PEORIA, Ariz.  Good afternoon from dusty Peoria, Arizona. Tonight the Padres will host the Chicago Cubs for the second consecutive night after defeating the Cubs 7-1 in Mesa on Monday night. Andrew Cashner will take the mound for the last time before Opening Day on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cashner had been having a very good spring until his last start against the San Francisco Giants. He gave up eight runs (four earned), which accounts for all of the runs he has given up in the Cactus League. Also, keep an eye on Kyle Blanks, Xavier Nady and Tommy Medica as they all battle for that final bench spot. Blanks and Nady are both starting tonight, and Medica is expected to come off the bench. Now on to what Padres manager Bud Black talked about in his afternoon session with the media:

Outfielder Chris Denorfia is progressing and is getting close to the finish line for returning to the field. Black is optimistic he will find his outfielder some at-bats before the start of the regular season.

The Padres acquired Adam Moore from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for a player to be named later or cash consideratiosn earlier Tuesday He is projected to begin the season at Triple-A El Paso. "He is a guy our scouts like and at this point it is always nice to have some experience catching in your minor league system," Black said.

Catcher Yasmani Grandal caught nine innings in a minor league game on Tuesday. Black said that, as far as health-wise, Grandal is ready for Opening Day.

Other Padre headlines:

Ten years after Eli Manning spurned the San Diego Chargers, his backup quarterback in college Seth Smith joins the Padres. The current Padres outfielder talks about what Manning was like at Ole Miss.